alking of new bands of the year so far, which we were yesterday, here's another one: Elephant, a duo from we're not sure where, but apparently the singer, Amelia Rivas, is "French by way of Pontefract". She and Christian Pinchbeck "met while studying together in London in May 2010", and apart from that it's pure speculation all the way, specifically about the nature of their relationship and whether their songs are about each other.

We love the precision of the date they met: May 2010. It means that it meant a lot, and suddenly their music is imbued with a romantic resonance it might otherwise have lacked. Even when the songs are sorrowful, and sometimes they are, they sound like the work of people singing from a privileged position, who can afford the luxury of heartache because they're, well, loved-up. Their music, according to Elephant, is the result of "prolonged nights of fevered creation" during which "ideas were assembled and dissected" and songs "recorded and rejected". Days and nights, they recall wistfully, "merged, and sleep became a friend and an enemy". We bet.